Christ The Door
J. Allen Blair
One time, while talking to a journalist about Christ, his reply was that "Christ is only one of the ways to God-other religions also have a way. There are many roads leading to God," he said. "They all end at the same place." What this gentleman did not realize is that only one of these roads leads to a Door of entry.
The Lord Jesus Christ often used symbolisms when He spoke, to reveal Himself to the people in a way they could understand. For example in John 10:9 we read His words, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. What did Jesus mean when He said I am the door? Without question, He meant that He is the Door to God and eternal life. We need this Door, for there is a wall separating all mankind from God. It is not possible to break through it or climb over it. Without Christ, it is impassable. You ask what this wall is? It is the wall of sin in your life and in mine. Our sin keeps us from God.
We read in Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. None of us can sidestep the sin issue. Whether we like it or not, God declares in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Because of this sin, we cannot approach God in ourselves.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:12 without Christ, we are aliens...and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. How then can anyone reach God? It is only possible through the Door, the one way God has prepared in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
As the Door, the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator. He died on the cross to pay the entire price for our sin, so that we need only to receive Him into our life. We read in 1 Peter 3:18 Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. We could never pay for our own sin. God knew that and sent His beloved Son to pay the price with His own blood. When one receives Christ as His Savior and Lord, God cancels the sin-debt forever.
There was a time when Henry Clay was in serious financial difficulties. His friends quietly raised the money, paying off the entire debt without his knowing it. One day, Clay went to the bank to discuss the debt. He received the surprise of his life when he went to the bank and was told by the manager, "There is no debt. A number of your friends paid it. You don't owe a dollar." Mr. Clay was, of course, overwhelmed by this kindness on the part of his friends. Yet, this is nothing compared to what God in His love did for every one of us. We too were burdened with a debt we could not pay-the debt of sin. But Christ paid it for us. He paid it with His own blood.
We read in Hebrews 10:20 there is a new and living way. This is the Christ way, through Him who is the Door.
I wonder if you have entered this Door? God invites everyone to come. He says in Hebrews 7:25 He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. No matter how vile and sinful your life has been, Christ's sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to blot it all out. Jesus declares in John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me. Please don't look for another way, friend, for there is none.
One time, after a Sunday evening service at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, a young man came to the pastor, who at the time was Dr. P.W. Philpot, and told him the past week had been the happiest one in his life. He proceeded to tell how that on the previous Sunday evening, as he sat in Lincoln Park, he saw the lighted sign of the Moody Memorial Church. Out of curiosity, he decided to go there and was greatly surprised on his arrival to see a huge crowd gathered for the Sunday evening service. As he listened intently to the message, Dr. Philpot shouted with emphasis, "Jesus Christ can put hope into a hopeless heart."
At that moment, the young man opened his heart to Jesus Christ in belief and was gloriously saved. Being an avowed drug addict, he went out after the service and dumped his drugs down an iron grating on Clark Street. The emphatic words of God's servant, Dr. Philpot, routed discouragement and helplessness out of this life and brought joy to his soul.
Yes, Jesus Christ can put hope into a hopeless heart. He can put hope into your heart. He has done it for millions and He can do it for you. Give Him a chance. Allow Him to prove what He can do for you. He is the Door-the Door to God-the only Door to God. We enter by inviting Him to enter our life.
Some years ago, the crew of the submarine Squalus feared they had taken their last dive. As the huge ship lay helpless at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 240 feet below the surface, the crew sent up a buoy and smoke flares hoping that one of the sister-ships would see them. If they were to be rescued, help would have to come from above.
The crew waited in intense silence. Within an hour, after the fatal dive, the search for them began, and in a few hours, the telltale red smudge and buoy were sighted. Twenty-four hours dragged by before rescue work could be started. And then, at last, a giant ten-ton diving bell dipped and rose again and again, each time raising several men, alive from those fearsome depths, until all 33 surviving members of the crew had been rescued. How thankful those helpless men were, to be released from their watery prison.
I need not add, when that huge diving bell descended to rescue the surviving crew members, not one sailor refused to enter. Everyone eagerly accepted the opportunity to escape, entering the door to safety without delay. At this moment, God is offering you not simply a few more years of physical life, but eternal life. Will you enter the door? Will you come to Christ and receive Him as the only way to God?
Not everyone survived the sinking of the Squalus. There were 26 crewmen who lost their lives in the accident. Some will not choose to survive by entering The Door, Jesus Christ. You need not be one of them. Join the survivors by accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Those who come to Me, I will not cast out are the words of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that you can have a lasting relationship to God, The Father, and enter into eternal life through The Door.
Thirty Years Later...
Sunday, April 28, 2008
Brother Gary,
I want to be a prayer and missions partner with this blessed radio ministry. As I am able, it will be my hope of continuing my support for as long as our Lord would have me to do.
The late Dr. Blair was used in a mighty way 30 years ago when, shortly after the Lord saved me in 1978, the Devil tried to convince me that I did not truly have a life-changing experience with Jesus Christ. Plagued by doubts and fears on my way home from work, I stopped off the road side and asked the Lord to assure me that what had happened between Him and me on September 10, 1978 was real.
When I got home, my wife met me at the door with a message in print from Glad Tidings. The topic, "You Can Know You Are Saved." The focal Scripture passage for the message was 1 John 5:13. Needless to say, my soul was elated with indescribable joy and relief.
Your ministry with Glad Tidings is reaching folks out there, and I wish to help, in spite of financial limitations at this time. Our Lord has shown Himself faithful, time and again. My desire is to serve Him, faithfully, in all He has given me to do. Thank you and your team for keeping this very much needed program on the air.
Yours in His love and service, A Grateful Listener in Anderson SC
A New Year A New Door
Gary Janes
As we celebrate the beginning of a New Year let's compare it to opening a new door. We've never seen what's on the other side of that door. In the USA, we've elected a new cadre of leadership and we have the promise of hope for our future.
The disappointment of the past is now behind and we look forward. As Christians, everyday is a new opportunity for service. Here is a great verse to begin a New Year and each new day!
You will show me the path of life: in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
(Psalm 16:11)